Comments: On this day in 1890 Vincent Van Gogh shot himself in a wheat field outside Auvers-sur-Oise, in France;
"He had been released from his latest hospitalization for mental illness to the care of Dr. Gachet, but Van Gogh was not optimistic: "I think we must not count on Dr. Gachet at all. First of all, he is sicker than I am. . . ." Instead, Van Gogh sought therapy in the countryside, and his painting of it: 'I have painted three more big canvases.... They are vast fields of wheat under troubled skies, and I did not need to go out of my way to try to express sadness and extreme loneliness.... I almost think that these canvases will tell you what I cannot say in words, the health and restorative forces that I see in the country. ' "
IN this era of Contemptorary Art, where Art has become a business of consumption and a confidence game, people seem to forget the therapeutic powers of immersing yourself in beauty. In real art.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=dipFMJckZOM
As a youth, I saw no damn sense to art other than to fill a blank wall, but now, as I have been beaten down by the incredible deformative stresses of my troubles, I see art with a new light.
Posted by John Condon at July 28, 2015 6:23 AM
Van Gogh's stuff looks like something our son painted when he was about 5 years old.
It's like he never even TRIED to get better.
Embarrassing.
Posted by ghostsniper at July 28, 2015 8:07 AM
Van Gogh was a man whose left brain was barely working. The two hemisphere's of our brains are complementary. The left side is our realistic, reasoning side. The right side is our feeling, intuitive side.
There is an interesting book by a woman that had a stroke that damaged her left hemisphere, but not beyond recovery. She describes the period when her right hemisphere was the only part of her brain that was working. During that time her world was a bright blaze of color and deep feelings. Beautiful scenes induced waves of ecstasy. There were no hard edges to her existence, everything seemed soft and hazy. When she recovered she wrote a book describing her experiences.
The book, should anyone be interested is:
MY STROKE OF INSIGHT by Jill Bolte Taylor.
She has done a TED talk on it. Available here: http://www.ted.com/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight
Posted by Jimmy J. at July 28, 2015 7:57 PM